Let the Rain Fall
by Avarwen
Summary: Inuyasha remained where he was, crouched over, staring out at the abused earth before him, unable to actually see it as the word continued to burn against his mind... searing him... making the pain rise in even greater amounts...‘Kagome...’


A/N: I'm not sure what possessed me to write this, I was actually in a fairly good mood when I started-- inspired... now I'm actually a little bit depressed. Accomplished, but depressed. Although, I do think I might've dragged on the ending a little bit too long... Oh well, hopefully it still works.

Oh, and I don't know if it's actually appropriate for this fic's theme, but the music I was listening to was "Breaking the Habit" by Linkin Park, so that's kinda what helped inspire it, and that's the only song I can think to recommend for it at the moment.

**DISCLAIMER **- I don't own Inuyasha or any of the associated characters in the anime/manga... I can always hope though, can't I? Though then again, if I'm gonna put them through shit like this, maybe I shouldn't be _allowed_ to own them...

Let the Rain Fall... 

Inuyasha's ears twitched slightly as he lifted his head, lifting his nose to taste the scent of the night.

Though there were no clouds in the sky, he could already smell the rain blanketing the night's scent-- the wind bringing whispers of the storm it was carrying swiftly toward them.

Inuyasha didn't say anything, just rose slowly and left the hut, heading outside, ignoring the curious glances he received from Shippo and Kaede in response.

'Inuyasha?' The small kitsune asked, moving to follow after him.

Inuyasha stopped just outside the doorway, but didn't look back at the kitsune.

'Go back inside, Shippo.' He said, his tone blank and heavy, and so similar to Sesshomaru's... only there was no arrogance or ice held within it. It was just... there.

And it was enough to make the small demon-child stop in his tracks, staring up at the half-demon with wide eyes.

Because Inuyasha rarely ever talked these days.

But when he did, it was always in a tone that was so full of misery and loss that it could make the hollow songs of spirit's sound like the most musical and cheerful song in the world.

Now it wasn't that... it was just... dead.

And the kitsune knew why.

Slowly, casting a worried glance back at the hanyou, he turned and went back inside the hut.

Inuyasha didn't notice.

He stood there for several moments, just inhaling deeply of the night's scent... letting it intoxicate him... take over him... absorb some of the pain...

He didn't bother looking back at the hut or saying anything to the two occupants inside before, driven by the overwhelming call of the night, he took off, racing into the trees of the forest that bore his name, feeling their shadows and branches come to caress his flesh in harsh scratches and blankets of darkness.

He didn't notice.

He just... ran.

Ran until the strange need left him... until he reached the place the night had called him to... until he reached the clearing...

Inuyasha stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes glittering dully with the faint light from the stars overhead as he gazed ahead of him-- his eyes locking in on the small, rotted well standing in the centre of the clearing.

It had been so long since anyone had used it, vines had come up to cover it's entrance, blocking it off to the outside world.

Inuyasha paused a moment, before moving forward and slicing through them with his claws, watching them crumple like withered, limp snakes and fall down the bottom of the well. And he watched them, half expecting to see the blue light swarm up and engulf them-- drag them away into the future... but it didn't. It remained dormant... as it had for the past two years...

Staring grimly down into the dark abyss before him a moment longer, Inuyasha turned and began making his way over across the clearing-- toward the Goshinboku tree...

He could still see the area in the bark where he had been pinned for so long... in fact, he doubted it would ever go away... he had seen it in Kagome's time as well... it seemed it would exist forever as a reminder of his weakness... of his betrayal... of all that he had lost.

Slowly Inuyasha approached, sitting awkwardly down on one of the tree's many roots, and glancing up at the stars, that glowed brightly back at him, taunting him with all their secrets...

That was one thing he loved and hated about the stars.

They were always there.

Ageless.

And, when you looked at them, it was almost as though you were, quite literally, getting a glimpse into the past. Because they were always there. Even when the sun hid them away, he could feel their presence. And they knew everything... saw everything...

Inuyasha's thoughts were interrupted as something cold hit his nose, sliding down to dip into the dark crevice that had formed beneath his eye from lack of sleep, and then running out along his cheek... like a tear.

Inuyasha slowly brought his hand up and wiped it away, only to have another one come down to clash against his lips, dipping into the dry cracks and trying to coax it's way through the tightly closed seam.

After a moment, Inuyasha let it, opening his mouth and bringing out his tongue to taste the freshness of the rain.

As if in response, the rain suddenly began to pour down in thick, silver sheets of water, falling from cloudless sky, though he could see the faint purple hue on the horizon that were the rain's bearer's trying desperately to catch up without any wind to guide them, clearly not wishing to be left behind...

Slowly, Inuyasha stood up, rising from his position on the roots-- sheltered by the boughs of the Goshinboku-- and stepped forward, wandering out into the rain as a blind person might.

In an instant he was soaked, the tiny water drops colliding with his skin and breaking apart-- like liquid crystals being shattered against his flesh again and again, caressing his flesh and trying to make him one with it... trying to steal some of the pain he had lived with for so long...

Inuyasha's ears tilted back and compressed against his head of their own accord as he tilted his head back to accept the tears the sky was so willingly shedding... just for him it seemed...

A loud rumble, and a sudden flash alerted him to the storm approaching, but he didn't move. He didn't want to move.

Not ever again.

He just wanted to remain trapped forever in this slick, depressing darkness that was somehow easing his pain, however slightly.

Or he wanted to go back.

Back to the day of the final battle...

He wanted to stop Kirara jumping in front of Sango and getting pierced with Naraku's tentacle...

He wanted to stop Miroku from absorbing all of that poison and destroying his arm beyond use or recognition...

He wanted to stop Kouga from having Kagura's wind pierce him in the effort to protect Ayame...

He wanted to stop that stupid toad of Sesshomaru's from protecting that little girl and loosing his body to Naraku...

He wanted to stop Kagome from firing her arrow... from saying her final goodbye...

He wanted it all to stop...

Inuyasha's breath hitched slightly as pain moved to constrict him, making it suddenly incredibly hard to breathe... making it _hurt_ to breathe... he stared blindly up into the rain that was crashing down upon him, unable to hear it... he couldn't feel... not anything... but the pain...

And, as he felt the despair beginning to consume him, Inuyasha let out a loud howling scream of absolute agony-- a cry that put ghosts to shame, and brought pain to everyone else who heard it, drawing his canine counterparts and Kouga's former followers to sing in answering howls, though they clearly did not know why they cried.

Ignoring the chorus of wails he had set off in the surrounding forest, Inuyasha collapsed down to his knees on the ground, eyes wide with the tears he had held back so long as rain continued to wash over him, the mud moving up to stain the knees of his hakama.

'_Why!' _He silently demanded of the night as he slammed his fist harshly into the ground before him, causing mud and fallen rain to splash up and hit his face. He didn't bother to wipe it away, just continued in his abuse of the earth before him, trying to force it to feel some of the pain he now felt.

'_Why, why, why, why, why, whywhywhywhywhy!'_

'DAMMIT!' He screamed out, his claws digging roughly into the earth, tearing through the dirt and grass that made up it's flesh, hating how it seemed to pulse in his hand... so full of life...

He didn't want life!

He wanted death!

He wanted the pain to stop... to get out of this darkness... to escape from it all...

He wanted...

'Kagome...' The name slipped from his lips in a soft, quavering whisper of misery before he could stop it, and his own voice startled him as it seemed to grate against the peaceful sounds of nature that surrounded him.

Inuyasha remained where he was, crouched over, staring out at the abused earth before him, unable to actually see it as the word continued to burn against his mind... searing him... making the pain rise in even greater amounts...

'_Kagome...' _

Inuyasha felt himself shake slightly as his eyes squeezed shut against it all, his ears pressing even tighter... trying to block out the world around him... the world he had been dead to for so long...

'_Why...' _

His arms trembled as his claws dug deep gashed into the earth once again, and he felt his strength begin to leave him.

'_Did you have to...' _

His limbs gave out beneath him, and he fell toward the ground, a soft cry escaping his lips, though not because it hurt. Not physically at least.

The mud seeped into the rest of his clothes, staining his skin and hair dark and dirty, running into his nose and mouth... trying to suffocate him...

'_Leave me...' _

Inuyasha's eyes opened again, unseeingly, as a tear escape, unbidden, to slide down his cheek, cutting a path through the mud and filth that even the rain could not, and dripping down to land on the grass, refusing to be absorbed by the earth that had been so cruel to it's owner.

'_Why did you have to die?' _

Inuyasha could feel the mud slipping down his throat, into his lungs, mixing with the rainwater to fill him, and he gladly accepted it.

His body didn't even bother to fight the way it should have... it was nothing more than a shell now-- a prison trapping in a soul that had been dead for two years. There was no reason for it to try and fight to keep it's prisoner within it.

There was no one left for him to protect now anyway. It was safe to go on.

Miroku and Sango had gotten married and were repairing her old village... he was certain they would bring Kaede and Shippo there when it was done...

Kouga, Kirara, Jaken, Kikyo were all dead... there was no reason to be concerned over them.

Ayame had somehow become the new leader of what was left of the wolf-demon tribe, and Ginta and Hakkaku (who had somehow managed to survive) served loyally under her.

Sesshomaru... still did whatever it was he did. And that human girl was still with him.

And since Naraku and all his incarnations were dead, there wasn't a problem.

Especially since this time there was no way for them to come back.

Kagome had made sure of that.

When she had destroyed Naraku and the jewel... given herself to make certain they wouldn't come back...

So now there was nothing left.

Now he could go on.

Now he could join her...

'Kagome...' He tried to whisper, but no sound could get past the swamp in his throat... though his lips moved softly to shape the words as he felt the darkness beginning to close in around him.

'_I'm coming for you.' _

That was the last thought the hanyou had before life left him...

A sudden shrill wind rose up, wrapping itself over and around the body, stealing what little warmth it had left to it, soaring off to alert the rest of the world that the hanyou that had helped defeat Naraku was, indeed, dead...

Lighting clashed violently against the Goshinboku tree, severing one of it's limbs, and turning it's colour to a bleak and ashen black as it's leaves shuddered and fell limply to the ground.

In the Western Lands, Sesshomaru very nearly stumbled in his steps as he felt something hit him with more force than he had ever known, and he paused, turning and frowning the direction of his brother's village, his eyes narrowing slightly as pain assaulted his senses...

Miroku and Sango looked up from their work, their eyes meeting as they each felt the wave of grief wash over them, swarming inside their chests, alerting them to what had happened...

Ayame, having given up long ago on trying to silence the cries that her wolves had started to let out, suddenly felt the need to join in in their mournful chorus, bringing the rest of the wolf-tribe to howl as well...

In the village Shippo shivered slightly at the window he was perched on as he heard their cries... smelt the traces of his hanyou companion on the wind... and knew exactly what it meant.

In truth, he had known it would happen the moment Inuyasha had stood and exited the small hut.

But he hadn't stopped it.

Because he knew that, after all these years, after all they had been through, Inuyasha needed this... he needed to join Kagome... he needed release...

Owari

Glossary

Kitsune - Fox

Hanyou - Half-Demon

Goshinboku - The tree Inuyasha was sealed too-- Sometimes referred to as the god's tree.

Hakama - The baggy sort of pants that Inuyasha wears. Traditionally they were worn by Samurai...

Owari - The End (The end of a story)

A/N: Well that's it for now.

Don't be afraid to leave a review and let me know what you think!


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